Joyce Bosc has a secret. Founder of Boscobel Marketing
Communications Inc., she maintains her secret is having a small
agency with big ideas. As president and CEO, her full-service
branding, marketing, public relations and advertising firm that she
founded in 1978 has become one of the most respected and
sought-after agencies in the Washington, DC, area. With just 20
employees, BMC's accomplishments include launching the
corporate identity and branding of America Online as well as
representing the nonprofit company PowerUp, which is headed by
Steve Case and Colin Powell. Today, Entrepreneur.com speaks to Bosc
on why staying small has brought her continued success-and why it
could be a good move for your business.

Entrepreneur.com: Why do you
feel staying small has helped you grow?

Joyce Bosc: I don't know
if I would say, "Staying small helped us grow," but I
would definitely say, "Staying small has helped us stay
successful." Personally, I think clients are looking for
options today, and they're looking for smaller firms that can
help them by providing creative ideas-ideas that are faster and
more reasonably priced.

"Even though we have a small staff, we have no weak links.
Everybody's an all-star."

The other reason for staying small for me and why it was our
vision is, we want to be able to control the quality of our work
output. In terms of meeting deadlines and meeting a client's
expectations on quality work, we're exceeding it. That I think
is exceedingly difficult the larger you grow. Also, to stay small
gives you a sense of freedom. By that I mean you have the freedom
to decline any business opportunity that you don't really
believe is going to be a win-win. Sometimes when you get large, you
find you have to take on business and projects that you really
wouldn't [otherwise], but you have to, to make ends meet. I
can't tell you the peace of mind and the freedom it gives to
know that you can decline something if it's not going to be a
perfect fit. And honestly, I want clients with the best possible
fit. It also allows us the freedom to pick and choose employees
because we don't need that many. So we can really select from
the best. Even though we have a small staff, we have no weak links.
Everybody's an all-star.

Entrepreneur.com: Since
you've worked with such big names like AOL and Steve Case, have
you ever felt persuaded to grow and take on more people?

Bosc: No. Not in 22
years-honestly. I've never gotten caught into that trap. I
think people just automatically think, "Well, that's the
next step." I guess I've never thought of it that way. The
other thing for me personally-and again everybody has to run their
business their own way-but I believe very strongly in that 80-20
rule. If I can stay small-and staying small to me means under 30
people-then I can spend 80 percent of my time working on the
business, [and] 20 percent working in the business. And that
20 percent of my time working in the business means that I still
get to visit client sites, have interaction, come to brainstorming
sessions and still make a creative contribution to our work
product.

Entrepreneur.com: What would
you tell other entrepreneurs who may be struggling with the
decision of expanding their business? Is there a right time?

Bosc: Number one, before you
make that decision, scan your employee base and look to see if you
have any.not necessarily weak links, but anybody that's
an average employee. And offer them an exit strategy with dignity.
And the next thing is to take a look at your current client base
and see if there are any clients that would be better served by a
smaller or larger firm. Then look at your competition and see if,
by growing, you lose some sort of unique selling proposition.

I would also look at myself and decide what is it that I want to
do. If you are going to be happy pushing paper and being
administrative, without any hands-on involvement, then grow. But if
you're the type of person that still wants to contribute, then
I would consider staying small. If you have a small company with
under 30 employees, it's very difficult for factions to be
created. It's easier to function with one mind and one
vision.